What is Synthetic Marijuana?

Adults in many states and the District of Columbia now legally use marijuana, both medically and for recreation. Much like for legal alcohol, legalized marijuana use is normalizing in our culture. Therefore, using marijuana is something more people expect the right to do if they so choose, regardless of what their state laws dictate. Some who cannot legally use the natural drug turn to synthetic marijuana, instead.

Synthetic forms of marijuana are incredibly dangerous. Called by “K2,” “Spice” and other names, this so-called drug does not remotely match the chemical makeup of weed. Instead, you ingest a broad mix of chemicals that mimic the high of weed. For example, some of these chemicals are things you would never consider using on their own, such as rat poison.

What is Synthetic Marijuana?

Synthetic marijuana consists of dried and shredded plant materials. However, do not let these plant materials fool you. There is nothing natural about the K2 or Spice high. The plant pieces only mimic marijuana’s appearance to trick you into believing K2 is safe.

Instead, drug traffickers douse the plant parts with chemicals. The chemicals bind to the same receptors in your brain as THC of marijuana. This is how Spice mimics the marijuana high. However, synthetic marijuana provides a high up to 100 times more potent than the real plant, thanks to the deadly chemicals you ingest when using the product.

The biggest problem of using K2 is you do not know what chemicals you put into your body. There are over 150 types of chemical compounds used to make synthetic marijuana on the market today. Sometimes chemicals like brodifacoum, the rat poison causing severe bleeding for 60 people using K2 in Illinois, makes its way into the mix.

Health Risks of Using K2 or Spice

You can buy some K2 at convenience stores. However, this by no means makes it legal for use as a drug. It also does not make it safe. In fact, the CDC claims you suffer a wide range of side effects from Spice, with some of these effects being long-lasting or deadly. For example, common side effects of K2 or Spice include:

Agitation and irritability

Sleepiness, confusion and dizziness

Lack of coordination and concentration

Stroke, seizures, and hallucinations

Psychosis

Heart attack and kidney failure

Which health problems you experience depend on what the drug trafficker decided to throw into the K2 or Spice recipe on a given day. It also depends on how much you use, how long you use it and other factors. Doctors still know little about long-term effects of synthetic marijuana.

The problems in trying to know precisely how K2 hurts you lies in the problems the DEA faces in enforcing K2 drug crimes. That is, whenever the DEA makes certain chemicals or compounds illegal in efforts to enforce those restrictions, drug traffickers simply change their formula to get around the law. This means new health hazards of quickly changing compounds.

Help for Addiction in Asheville, NC

Whether you suffer marijuana addiction or addiction to any type of synthetic marijuana, you need help for strong, lasting recovery. That help comes from Crest View Recovery Center in Asheville, NC. CVRC understands the very individual nature of addiction, providing individual care to meet your specific needs.